For the last twenty years or so, family law in most western countries has been undergoing a process of fundamental transformation. Although the pace varies, the general trend is clear. Individuals are given greater control over conjugal and parental relationships and their legal consequences, and also over conflict-resolution methods. The demographic and sociological profile of families has also changed radically over the same twenty-year period. An increase in separations, shorter relationships, the abandonment of marriage in favour of other conjugal forms, the multiplication of conjugal models, access to a range of procreation methods, single parenthood, multiple legal parents, and blended families are some of the generalized trends that require societies to examine the need to update their family law. In addition, there are increasing calls for an approach to family law that provides a better match for the realities faced by present-day families, and that is also simpler and more accessible. The contractualization of conjugal relationships and the privatization of dispute resolution methods introduce new risks, raising the key question of the objectives that should be targeted by contemporary family law. Several jurisdictions have moved, like Québec, in the direction of partial reforms in response to immediate concerns, while others, like British Columbia more recently, have implemented a comprehensive reform. A comprehensive reform is the solution put forward by Québec's advisory committee on family law reform which, in its 2015 report, proposes nothing less than a restructuring of family law.

Whether the reform takes place in the immediate future or remains simply as a goal, this appears to us an appropriate time to bring together, in a thematic issue of Les Cahiers de Droit, the contributions of researchers looking at recent developments in family law in both civil and common law jurisdictions, and assessing options for reform of the law. The contributions may focus on themes of current concern in connection with either conjugal relationships or parental rights, approaches to dispute resolution, and also on the processes used to reform family law.

This thematic issue of Les Cahiers de droit will be edited jointly by Professor Dominique Goubau from the Faculty of Law, at Laval University and Professor Emerita Susan Boyd of the Peter A. Allard School of Law at The University of British Columbia. Papers 20 to 30 pages long (1.5 spaced, footnotes included) must be submitted by e-mail (cahiers.de.droit@fd.ulaval.ca) before April 1 st, 2018.

The journal Les Cahiers de droit publishes original papers in French and English. All submitted texts are assessed anonymously by two external experts. The style sheet is available on the journal's website at: www.cahiersdedroit.fd.ulaval.ca. For more information: cahiers.de.droit@fd.ulaval.ca.